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Varsha Seshan

The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips

January 11, 2023 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

I read The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips several years ago. And like most of Michael Morpurgo’s books, it’s a classic. In the cruellest, most inhuman of times, we find stories of courage and love – Morpurgo never fails to remind us of that. Through a series of diary entries, we learn about 11-year-old Lily, who lives […]

Filed Under: Books, Children, Workshops Tagged With: book club, bookish activities, books for ages nine and ten, Michael Morpurgo, online reading programme, The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips

January Reads

January 31, 2022 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

In December, I visited a books by weight sale, and I couldn’t resist picking up seven books that were in near-mint condition! I couldn’t finish one, but I read the other six, some of which I quite enjoyed, and others that I loved. Here they are, listed in an unusual way for me – from […]

Filed Under: Books Tagged With: An Elephant in the Garden, Bubble Wrap Boy, Chris Riddell, Heidi Schulz, Hook's Daughter, Michael Morpurgo, middle-grade, My Friend Walter, Ottoline Goes to School, Phil Earle, reading, review, Twist of Gold

The Butterfly Lion

November 6, 2021 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

I love Michael Morpurgo. And The Butterfly Lion? I’ve had it on my shelf for ever so long, hoping to share it with more readers someday. That day is nearly here! The Butterfly Lion is a classic. In Michael Morpurgo’s signature style, he tells a heartfelt, almost mystical story in the simplest and most magical of […]

Filed Under: Books, Children, Workshops Tagged With: book club, bookish activities, books for ages nine and ten, creative writing, Michael Morpurgo, online reading programme, online workshops for children, reading, reading workshops, The Butterfly Lion

Top Nine Middle Grade Books I Read in 2020

January 3, 2021 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

I love middle grade reads, so this is my longest list this year. In no particular order, here are the books to which I gave a five-star rating in 2020. This is a book for keeps. More often than not, in India, books that address homosexuality are categorised as young adult or adult books, but […]

Filed Under: Books Tagged With: Across the Line, All of Me, Eva Ibbotson, Holly Goldberg Sloan, Kate Darnton, Katherine Rundell, Listen to the Moon, Lois Lowry, Meg Wolitzer, Michael Morpurgo, middle-grade, Nayanika Mahtani, Number the Stars, Out of My Mind, Sharon M Draper, The Good Thieves, The Misfits, The Star of Kazan, To Night Owl from Dogfish, Venita Coelho

Listen to the Moon

February 19, 2020 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

Book Cover Text: The stunning new World War I novel Michael Morpurgo Listen to the Moon "Please invite this wonderful story in, you won't regret it. History is rarely more movingly alive." Morris Gleitzman Photograph of a boy's face, a girl's face and a horse's face against a full moon. Below, a huge wave and a boat with men on it and a flag fluttering

I keep saying that with Michael Morpurgo, you can’t go wrong. Once more, with Listen to the Moon, I realised the truth of that. Had it been almost any other writer, I would have been daunted by the thickness of the book and the idea of beginning to read it when I know I’m busy. But Michael Morpurgo? […]

Filed Under: Books Tagged With: Listen to the Moon, Michael Morpurgo, reading, review

Private Peaceful

February 25, 2014 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

Charlie … Charlie … Charlie …I want to meet you, get to know you, look up and admire you. I wanted to sob my heart out when I finished reading Private Peaceful.I wish I hadn’t read it. It was so painful, so filled with a sense of injustice, so cruel.I feel privileged to have read […]

Filed Under: Books, Children Tagged With: Michael Morpurgo, Private Peaceful, reading, review, Young Adult

War Horse

January 18, 2014 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

There’s something about Michael Morpurgo that haunts me. I remember being blown away by Kensuke’s Kingdom. I’ve read and reread so many of his books. Running Wild, The White Horse of Zennor, Adolphus Tips, and of course War Horse. They come to mind immediately. This was not the first time I read War Horse.I was […]

Filed Under: Books, Children Tagged With: Michael Morpurgo, reading, review, War Horse

Running Wild

October 8, 2013 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

I don’t usually like thick hardbound books. They are daunting and, usually, boring. As soon as I make that statement, though, I realise how many exceptions there are. Running Wild is one of them. It has pages and pages of description, but not once was I bored. Morpurgo, at the end of the book, talks of […]

Filed Under: Books Tagged With: Michael Morpurgo, reading, review, Running Wild